The Discerning Eye: Perspectives for Watching, Reflecting on, and Writing about Movies
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2019
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Preview of The Discerning Eye coming attractions: The aim of this book is not to prescribe the absolute meaning of a movie. Rather, the aim is to help students discover some of a movie's many possible meanings. To achieve this, the book is divided into four parts: Part One, The Birth of an Art Form Chapters 1-3 examine the history and development of production and post-production of Hollywood movie-making. Part Two, Major Milestones in the Development of Motion Picture Art Chapters 4-6 focus on these groundbreaking milestones: "The Conceptualization of Classical Hollywood Genres," The Transformation of Hollywood," and :"The Library of Congress Begins Preserving Influential American Movies. Part Three, How Movies Reflect and Embody the Culture and Society in which They Are Made Chapters 7-9 discuss different ways movies [fiction and documentary] address contemporary cultural and social values [African-American, Asian-American, Latinos, Native-American, Class, Gender, and Sexuality]. Part Four, Writing College Papers About Movies Chapter 10 includes sections on writing reflections about individual movies, writing essays from various movie-making perspectives, writing research papers, manuscript preparation, helpful hints for writing papers, and a sample student paper.
Preview of Coming Attractions
PART ONE: THE BIRTH OF AN ART FORM
Chapter One: Historical Context
Introduction
Developing Methods to Think Cinematically
Edwin S. Porter
D.W. Griffith
Expanding Moviemaking Methods
Keaton and Chaplin
German Expressionism
Russian Montage
French Experimentation
Consolidating and Standardizing the Movie Business
The Hollywood Standard
Technological Breakthroughs: Sound and Color
Sound Incorporated into the Narrative
Successful Addition of Color
Technological Innovation and Hollywood Convention
The Shrinking Industry
The History of Cinema Discourse
Reviewing
Contemporary Reviewing
The History of Serious Cinema Discourse
Transformative Critics and Their Perspectives
James Agee
Stanley Kauffmann
Robert Warshow
Andre Bazin
Conclusion
Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How Questions to Ask after Watching a Movie in Class
Writing Reflections
Reflection Instructions
Sources for Reflections
Chapter Two: Pre-production and Production: Designing the Movie
Introduction
Starting Point: Pre-production—Words before Images
The Screenplay
Visualizing the Screenplay
The Storyboard
Production Design
Performers as Part of Mise-en-Scène
Cinematography
Black and White
Color
Lighting
Composition
Focus
Point of View
Motion in and between Frames
Camera Speed
Reflexive or Postmodern Mise-en-Scène
The Sound Design as an Element of a Movie’s Mise-en-Scène
Dialogue as an Element of Mise-en-Scène
Synchronous Sound
Asynchronous Sound
Background Music: The Motion Picture Score
Foreground Music
Conclusion
Key Questions to Ask When Reflecting on a Movie’s Mise-en-Scène
Chapter Three: Post-production: Assembling the Movie
Introduction
Significant Developments in Motion Picture Editing
The Silent Beginning
The Russians and Montage
Sound and Editing
Editing Aesthetic: The Manipulation of Time
Invisible Editing: Decoupage
Unconventional Editing: Jump Cuts
Compression of Time
Expansion of Time
Simultaneous Time
Inserts
Parallel Editing or Crosscutting
Split Screen (Multiple Images)
Superimpositions and Dissolves
Stopped Time: The Freeze Frame
Subjective Time: Dream, Fantasy, Memory, and Perceptual Distortion
Objective Time: The Flashback and the Flash-Forward
Achronological Time
Ambiguous Time
Universal Time
Visual Rhythm
Meaning through Editing: Relationships between Shots
Montage: Connections and Dislocations
Montage by Composition
Montage by Movement
Montage by Repetition
Montage by Rhythm
Montage by Content: Detail and Metaphor
Meaning through Minimal Editing: Relationship within Shots
The Illusion of Actual Space: The Long Shot and Moving Camera
Minimal Editing: The Long Take
The Artistry of Sound: Assembling Sounds to Enhance the Images
Sound Perspective
Sound Bridge
Sound Counterpoint
Sound Conventions
Conclusion
Key Questions to Ask When Analyzing the Finished Movie
PART TWO: MAJOR MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOTION PICTURE ART
Chapter Four: Milestone One: The Conceptualization of Classical Hollywood Genres
Introduction
Historical Context
The Shape and Form of the Genre Narratives
Genre Comedies: Slapstick Comedy, Romantic Comedy, and Musical Comedy
Slapstick Comedy
Romantic Comedy
Musical Comedy
Genre Melodramas: Western, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Adventure, and Crime
Western
Fantasy
Horror
Science Fiction
Adventure Genre
Crime Genre
Elements of Classical Studio System Genres
Formulas
Conventions
Classical Genre Iconography
Genre as Myth, Fairy Tale, and Ritual
Myth
Fairy Tale
Ritual
Genre Movies as a Reflection of the Culture That Made Them
Aristotelian Critical Perspective for Analyzing Genre Movies
Conclusion
Questions to Ask When Reflecting on a Classical Genre Movie
Chapter Five: Milestone Two: The Transformation of Hollywood
Introduction
The Era of Film Noir
Shadow of a Doubt
Film Noir Genres
The Morally Corrupt Detective
Family Melodrama
The Femme Noir
Film Noir Masterpiece: Touch of Evil
The Director’s Ascendant Role
The Studio System Director
The Director as Smuggler
Foreign Influence on Movie Production and Cinema Theory
Italian Neorealism
British Free Cinema
New German Cinema
French New Wave
Rififi
Bob le Flambeur
À bout de soufflé
Auteur Theory
The Release of Psycho and the Birth of the New Hollywood
Genres Touched by Film Noir
Mel Brooks
Robert Altman
Questions to Ask When Reflecting on Genre Movie, the Director of the Movie, Independent Movies Made by the New Hollywood
Glossary